


Sanctuary

by pollitt



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-09-03
Updated: 2008-09-03
Packaged: 2017-10-05 14:52:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pollitt/pseuds/pollitt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If something is undiscovered, does its existence begin when it is found?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sanctuary

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sheafrotherdon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheafrotherdon/gifts).



If something is undiscovered, does its existence begin when it is found?

It's a deep philosophical question, and one that could have hours upon years spent analyzing and discussing, but the truth of the matter is for one reason or another--be it from the return of the Ancients, or maybe when Atlantis had to make its quick getaway from Lantea to its new home--a previously undiscovered door, taking the team to a heretofore unknown tower somewhere on the magnetic North of Atlantis, was found in the (momentarily) quiet days after the Midway station was destroyed and before Teyla was taken.

They stood--Ronon, John, Rodney and Teyla--close together in the center of the room, looking around them at the ornately decorated stained glass windows that reached almost from ceiling to floor, and those windows that were not decorated were equally large, affording a crystal clear view of almost the entire city. It was awesome in the most traditional sense.

"Cool," Ronon said, breaking the silence.

Everyone had to agree.

They keep the location a secret, divulging the information only to a select few in the inner circle.

There are no rules, save one--

_"There's only one. The first and only rule of this place is you do **not** talk about this place," Ronon said, looking around at the group gathered together, the moonlight casting darkly beautiful shadows on the floor._

"Oh yes, like you're Mr. Chatty Cathy," Rodney interjected, earning him a glare from Radek and an truly glorious eyeroll from Lorne.

"I think he aimed that at you, McKay," John said in a stage whisper, and Rodney's smirk sharpened into a glare and then softened.

"I can be discreet. I can."

No one argued, and no one took extra notice when John smiled a bit wickedly, a little sadly, and touched Rodney's elbow.

ooooo

 

There's no written calendar, no set schedule of who goes to the tower when. They've mastered the most basic of codes, spoken over the comm, and when some privacy, silence, or solitude is needed, anyone can slip away and know their friends have their back.

 

ooooo

 

Teyla uses the space to meditate, to feel the sun on her face and to breathe in the quiet air. After her return, she brings Torren with her. As he sleeps, his head resting close to her heart, she tells him his story, filled with brave Athosian warriors and heroes that traveled across the galaxies. She tells her son about his father as she remembered him, as he would be once again.

ooooo

 

Radek knew the first time he stepped into the room what he'd bring when he next visited. The way Rodney's voice bounced off the walls, the tones separating and recombining before they hit his ear, it was the perfect space. He stutters through the first few notes, but soon Vivaldi's Concerto for flute is filling the air, surrounding him. He begins with the allegro molto, his favorite part and one he knows best. The room's acoustics, he realizes, are set up for duets, and he wonders if any of the others might harbor a secret violin talent.

ooooo

 

After a number of stops and starts (and starts and stops) in the main halls of Atlantis, Jennifer and Ronon find success in finally being alone together, with no crises or distraction, no reason not to reach for one another and complete the kiss that was long since overdue. Of course once that's over, when they're still loosely holding on to one another, comes the difficult part--talking. The moments stretch silently between them until Ronon ducks his head and Jennifer can see his lips twitch in a smile.

"So tell me more about... _Wisconsin_?"

ooooo

 

Since they flew the city--and that still blows his mind if he thinks about it too hard--Lorne hasn't had the time or the inclination to pick up his paint brush. But something about the room makes his fingers ache to draw and paint as they remember the joy of that simple act even when he forgets it. The room becomes even more special when Parrish comes (_home_) back to Atlantis. Lorne brings him there almost immediately and finds that painting wasn't the only things his fingers had been missing. He traces along the planes of Parrish's beloved face before leaning in for the first kiss of many.

ooooo

 

Before John, Rodney had never really seen the point in naps. To him, a nap was time out of the day when something could be worked on, studied, or calculated. Rodney would claim if asked--not that anyone would ask--that it was John's argument that even Einstein took daily naps that finally made him relent and not the soft, rumpled way John looked as he patted the floor next to him.

Rodney could claim Einstein was the reason until he was blue in the face, but John knew better.

While John was pretty sure that most of the city knew about him and Rodney and really didn't care, they worked hard to maintain a friends only facade in front of others. As Rodney said, they were discreet. And while they did manage to spend time in each others quarters, the room was a haven for them.

_"I'm not calling this the nap room, I don't care how much you pout," Rodney said, shifting the blankets they've spread out on the floor. "That makes it sound like that's all we do here."_

John knew that sometimes it was appropriate to argue with Rodney, and others, the only thing to do was to push him back onto the floor and kiss him until the words stopped and Rodney relented.

"Whatever you say, Rodney." John pressed his nose into the warm skin of Rodney's nape and closed his eyes.

In those moments just before sleep, John knows that the true haven is having Rodney in his arms.

ooooo

 

They live in a city of wonders that can float on an ocean, that has flown through space, but the most profound enlightenment is their bond to each other. So there's a room in a faraway tower where they can be alone or be together, but mostly importantly, they can simply _be_.


End file.
